Belegarth

I've seen on here that PVC is frowned upon compared to fiberglass. I've done a small bit of fighting with weapons made from PVC and I've experienced both unformed PVC and completely flattened PVC breaking on impact. What I'm wondering is if anyone has done any heat-forming of PVC to shape it. I've made a variety of weapons and it seems that when you only slightly flatten it, to a sort of ovular shape as opposed to circular, it grows much more rigid and gains a good deal of strength. Has anyone else experienced this or made Belegarth-legal weapons in this manner? Thanks in advance for any advice or opinions

its a sound engineering theory, however the only experience ive had with heat formed pvc was to give the blade a curve to make more eastern style weapons. The reason we utilize Fiberglass over pvc is that it is stronger, more rigid, of similar price depending on where you get it. If you have PVC and you have time, you may as well try, if nothing else it fails, you learned something, and hopefully practiced your blade making skills (yes, it does require skill, ive coached a lot of fighters who cant seem to cut a straight line in the foam.

If you do want to give this a try, you might want to also do a piece up with more of a rectangular or square shape, as the foam adheres better to a flatter surface. Might not be as rigid on one plane as the oval, but would not flex as much side to side, which is a factor to consider when the blade strikes at an angle, or flats, and directly affects the longevity of the core.

Personally, I don't have any experience heat-forming PVC, but I know that one method of doing so was to cap one end, pour boiling water into the other until full, and then cap that end as well. Once the PVC heated enough, it could then be hammered, bent, and shaped.

Be sure to post pictures if you go ahead with this, and keep us updated. I find this intriguing.